The Debate between the Might and the Truth within a Quranist Vision (19):

The Al-Aqsa Rock in Jerusalem Is the Golden Pagan Idol for the Muhammadans

Published in January 10, 2018

Translated by: Ahmed Fathy

Firstly: the description of this 'holy' rock:

Historians of the Sunnite Muhammadans mention the following lines about this sanctified, 'holy' rock in Jerusalem.

1- (... The magnificent, golden Dome of the Rock Mosque was built in the middle of the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque of Jerusalem ...).

2- (... The one who built The Dome of the Rock Mosque was the Umayyad caliph Abdul-Malik Ibn Marwan, as per his decree in 66 A.H. to mark the location of the Holy Rock ... this dome had precious stones, jewels, rare mosaïque and ceramics, etc., and it was the most magnificent edifice for centuries within the whole Arab Empire ... it is said that Abdul-Malik Ibn Marwan used all taxes-money coming from Egypt for seven years to cover the expenses of building the Dome of the Rock Mosque, and when 100 thousand dinars remained of such money after the edifice was completed, Abdul-Malik Ibn Marwan decided to divide this sum between the two engineers who supervised the project: Rajaa Ibn Al-Kindy from the city of Bisan and Yazeed Sallam from the city of Jerusalem, but they refused this generous reward, asserting that they desired to sell the jewelry of their wives to decorate the holy edifice with more ornaments and encrusted precious stones ... Abdul-Malik Ibn Marwan decided to use this sum of money to encrust golden sheets into the outer side of the dome to make it shine in the sun ...).

3- (... The edifice of the Dome of the Rock Mosque was redecorated and rejuvenated in 216 A.H. during the reign of the Abbasid caliph Harun Al-Rasheed ... the dome collapsed in 407 A.H., and its rebuilding project was finished in 413 A.H. ... the Mameluke sultan Al-Dhahir Beibars of Egypt redecorated and rejuvenated the Dome of the Rock Mosque in 669 A.H., and so did the Mameluke sultan Zayn-Eddine Kitubqa in 694 A.H., the Mameluke sultan M. Ibn Qalawun in 718 A.H., the Mameluke sultan Qaitbay in 873, and the Ottoman sultan Suleiman I the Magnificent in 945 A.H. ... Other rulers, caliphs, and governors cared very much for the Dome of the Rock Mosque ...).

Secondly: the 'holy' myths about worshipping this pagan rock idol:

This is frankly a cult of worshiping inanimate things and rocks; these are some myths circulated by the Sunnites about this deified rock in Jerusalem.

1- It is a rock that is suspended in the air and it followed Muhammad during his ascension into heaven!

2- It is a rock that emits a rare light of its own; it used to have a ruby that shined at night as if it were a small sun, but the ruby was smashed by Nebuchadnezzar when he conquered Jerusalem!

3- It is a rock that came straight from Paradise to descend on earth, to bless the Levant and Jerusalem, and it acquired its white color as it touched the earth!

4- It is a rock that will be the location around which God will gather resurrected souls on the Last Day!

5- It is a rock that is the holy master of all rocks on earth!

6- It is a rock that from which flow all drinkable water and come all winds carrying rain within all regions on earth!

7- It is a rock that carries the footprints of Muhammad as he stood on it before his alleged ascension into heaven!

8- It is a rock that carries the fingerprints of angels!

9- It is a rock that hides one of the major, big rivers of Paradise!

10- It is a rock that represents God's Throne on earth!

11- It is a rock that marks the center of the earth and of the universe; it is the zero point from which the earth and heavens were created!

12- It is a rock that witnessed the alleged ascension of Muhammad into heaven, and it followed him up into the air, but archangel Gabriel commanded it to return to its original location!

13- It is a rock that is holier than the Blackstone beside the Kaaba in Mecca!

14- It is a rock that is so holy that God answers immediately the prayers of those who pray and worship at it!

15- It is a rock that will witness the Last Day, Hell, Paradise, and the hair-narrow bridge leading to Paradise! It will be removed from Jerusalem to be put back to Paradise in a celebration as if it were a bride! It will lead pilgrims into Paradise on the Last Day! The Blackstone of the Kaaba will follow it into Paradise, after it would be magnified into the size of the Uhud mountain! The Anti-Christ will rule over the whole earth except Jerusalem because of this 'holy' rock! Gog and Magog will multiply and fill the earth and all cities except Jerusalem because of this 'holy' rock! Adam, Moses, Joseph, and all prophets of God sent to the Israelites commanded that their burial places must be in Jerusalem because of this 'holy' rock!

Thirdly: the origin of these myths is the elaborate, detailed myth of Muhammad's alleged ascension into heaven:

1- The Sunnite narrators said that (... Muhammad stood on this 'holy' rock in Jerusalem before his ascension into heaven, and the rock followed him up into the air, but archangel Gabriel commanded it to return to its original location ... thus, shortly before his ascension into heaven, he climbed the rock and stood on it to mount the steed, and as he ascended into heaven, the rock followed him up through the air, but Gabriel made angels under his command to hold it from one corner that has their fingerprints ... the rock has the footprints of Muhammad ... it remained for a while suspended in the air, and the One holding it was Almighty God who provide pillars to heavens so that they would not fall on the surface of the earth ...).

2- The Sunnite narrators have fabricated many hadiths about this balderdash and nonsense; these hadiths include the following.

2/1: We quote this one from the hadiths-book authored by Moslem: (... Anas Ibn Malik, may God be pleased with him, said that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said that a large, white steed bigger than donkeys and mules appeared suddenly to him in Mecca, and after he mounted it, it flew till it reached this Holy Rock in the Holy City of Jerusalem, where he stood on the same spot where all prophets had stood before him ...).

2/2: This hadith is narrated by Al-Tirmizy, among others, and is classified as good but strange: (... Brida, may God be pleased with him, said that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said that when the steed reached the rock in Jerusalem, Gabriel made a hole with his finger into the rock to tie the rope of the steed ...).

2/3: The Sunnite narrators said the following about this 'holy' rock in Jerusalem: (... Muslims sanctify this Blessed, Holy Rock as the Prophet Muhammad stood on it before his ascension into heaven ... Abdullah Ibn Abbas, may God be pleased with him, said that this rock came straight from Paradise ... Ali, may God be pleased with him, said that this rock is situated in the holiest spot on the surface of earth and that it is the holy master of all rocks on earth ... Abou Hurayrah, may God be pleased with him, said that the Holy Prophet Muhammad said that he performed prayers during the Night-Journey from Mecca to Jerusalem on the right side of the Holy Rock, which still carries his footprints before he mounted the steed that flew up into the heaven ... All saints assert that God prefers Jerusalem to all cities on earth and that the site of the rock is the Holy of Holies on the surface of the earth ... Kaab Al-Ahbar, may God be pleased with him, said that he read in the Torah that God addressed the Holy Rock in Jerusalem and told it that it represents His Lower Throne on earth, that it is the first spot from which the earth and heavens stretched, and that those who love this holy rock love God and those who hate it hate God ... Those who died near the Holy Rock are as though they died in Paradise ...).

Fourthly: a brief refutation of the myth of ascension into heaven which is the basis of deifying and sanctifying the pagan rock idol in Jerusalem:

1- God says the following about the Night-Journey:"Glory to Him who journeyed His servant by night, from the Sacred Mosque, to the Farthest Mosque, whose areas We have blessed, in order to show him of Our signs. He is the Listener, the Beholder." (17:1). This Meccan verse was revealed before the early believers formed the Yathreb city-state and before the Umayyad caliphs Abdul-Malik Ibn Marwan and his son and successor, Al-Waleed Ibn Abdul-Malik, built their so-called Al-Aqsa and dome of the rock mosques in Jerusalem, decades after Arabs, during the reign of caliph Omar, conquered the Levantine region. Hence, the Quranic term (the Farthest Mosque) in 17:1 means literally the most faraway mosque. God has mentioned further details about the Night-Journey in 53:1-13 when Muhammad's soul saw archangel Gabriel who inscribed the entire text of the Quran into his heart during the Night of Decree.

2- In both contexts of 17:1 and 53:1-13, God talks about great signs and miracles shown to Muhammad; no human beings can imagine what Muhammad had seen during the Night-Journey that took place during the Night of Decree to make him receive the Quranic text; for further details, we refer readers to our book (in English) titled "The Night-Journey Is The Night of Decree", found on this link: (http://www.ahl-alquran.com/arabic/book_main.php?main_id=112).

3- The myth of Muhammad's alleged ascension into heaven is refuted in the Quranic text, as we explain in the points below.

3/1: The notion of ascension into heaven is mentioned only regarding angels that carry decrees/commands of God and return back to heaven. God says in the Quran: "A questioner questioned the imminent torment. For the disbelievers; none can repel i. From God, Lord of the Ways of Ascent. Unto Him the angels and the Spirit ascend on a Day the duration of which is fifty thousand years." (70:1-4); "He regulates all affairs, from the heavens, to the earth. Then it ascends to Him on a Day the length of which is a thousand years by your count." (32:5); "He knows what penetrates into the earth, and what comes out of it, and what descends from the sky, and what ascends to it. He is the Merciful, the Forgiving." (34:2); "It is He who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then settled over the Throne. He knows what penetrates into the earth, and what comes out of it, and what descends from the sky, and what ascends to it. And He is with you wherever you may be. God is Seeing of everything you do." (57:4).

3/2: The Quran mentions the notion of ascension into heaven in the context of refuting the polytheists' demand of witnessing tangible miracles: "Even if We opened for them a gateway into the sky, and they began to ascend through it. They would still say, "Our eyes are hallucinating; in fact, we are people bewitched."" (15:14-15).

3/3: The Quran never mentions the notion of ascension into heaven in relation to Muhammad at all; if this really occurred, the Quran would have mentioned this beside, or instead of, the Night-Journey.

4- The Quran refutes the myth that Muhammad might have ascended into heaven; we explain this further in the points below.

4/1: The verses 53:1-13 provide the first proof that refutes Muhammad's alleged ascension into heaven, as Gabriel was the one descendedon Muhammad, who remained in the ground at Mount Al-Tur of Sinai, to meet him to inscribe the Quran into his heart. Muhammad did NOT fly up into the sky to meet with Gabriel. God says in the Quran: "By the star as it goes down. Your companion has not gone astray, nor has he erred. Nor does he speak out of desire. It is but a revelation revealed. Taught to him by the Extremely Powerful. The one of vigor. He settled. While he was at the highest horizon. Then he came near, and hovered around. He was within two bows' length, or closer. Then He revealed to His servant what He revealed. The heart did not lie about what it saw. Will you dispute with him concerning what he saw? He saw him on another descent." (53:1-13).

4/2: This vision of Muhammad's soul/heart and its details described as (Great Signs) in this verse: "He saw some of the Great Signs of his Lord." (53:18) did NOT entail any ascension into heaven or into the sky at all. The Night-Journey was when Muhammad was transported miraculously from Mecca to Mount Al-Tur of Sinai to receive the Quran, and this is the spot where God talked to Moses and where Moses received the Torah Tablets and was told about the Quran and Muhammad. This Mount Al-Tur, which is the genuine, real Farthest Mosque, is where the covenant was made when Moses and 70 men went there, as we have explained before.

4/3: The Meccan polytheists demanded that Muhammad would ascend into heaven to prove to them that he was really a prophet; God refuses this request in the Quranic Chapter 17, significantly titled (Al-Israa) or (Night-Journey), by mentioning this dialogue between them and Muhammad: "...Or you ascend into the sky. Even then, we will not believe in your ascension, unless you bring down for us a book that we can read." Say, "Glory be to my Lord. Am I anything but a human messenger?"" (17:93).

4/4: Arab polytheists demanded many times from Muhammad to witness and see tangible miracles, apart from the Quran, like the ones performed by Moses and Jesus, granted by the Grace of the Lord God. God refused their requests each time, as the only miracle of Islam is the Quran. Muhammad was saddened by their disbelief and he implored Almighty God to grant him miracles so that they might belief. God has said to Muhammad that they rejected the Quran out of arrogance as their request of tangible miracles was refused and God will not change His Decree of refusing to provide miracles to them. God has said to Muhammad that if he desired to provide them with a miracle he would depend on his own devises and power if he liked; this means that Muhammad could not do this and could not ascend into heaven. If the so-called ascension into heaven occurred, God would have mentioned it in the Quran. God has said the following to Muhammad: "We know that what they say grieves you. It is not you they reject, but it is God's Verses that the unjust ones deny. Other messengers before you were rejected, but they endured rejection and persecution until Our help came to them. There can be no change to God's words. News of the messengers has already reached you. If you find their rejection hard to bear, then if you can, seek a tunnel into the earth, or a stairway into the heaven, and bring them a sign. Had God willed, He could have gathered them to guidance. So do not be of the ignorant." (6:33-35).

5- Thus, the Quran refutes the myth of Muhammad's alleged ascension into heaven, and therefore, there is not any 'holy' rock in Quranic facts of Islam. The 'holy' rock in Jerusalem worshipped by the Muhammadans is like the golden calf worshiped by the sinners among the Israelites, as we have tackled earlier.

Lastly: the laughter-inducing ignorance of the fabricators of these hadiths:

1- The ignorance of the fabricators of these hadiths drove them to invent contradictory, funny, laughter-inducing narratives about the Night-Journey and the myth of Muhammad's alleged ascension into heaven; for instance, they claim that Muhammad saw the River Nile and the River Euphrates whose waters came from heaven! They claim that Muhammad was an imam who led the prayers of all prophets behind him in a row inside the Al-Aqsa mosque of Jerusalem before it was built! They claim that Muhammad when allegedly ascended into heaven, God told him He has ordained five daily prayers! How come that how to perform prayers is ordained AFTER prayers are performed in Al-Aqsa with prophets?! Besides, prayers are not ordained as a new act of worship; this act of worship is inherited from the religion of Abraham, as we have explained in our book about prayers in the Quran. This is proven in this Meccan verse that addressed Muhammad as a reaction to a disbelieving man who prevented Muhammad from performing prayers in Mecca: "No, do not obey him; but kneel down, and come near." (96:19).

2- Their laughter-inducing ignorance drove them as well to invent and fabricate hadiths ascribed to 'companions'/narrators who never accompanied Muhammad inside Mecca, though the Night-Journey occurred when Muhammad was in Mecca, as we infer from 17:1. The most famous narrator/fabricator of hadiths, Abou Hurayrah, was a disbelieving polytheist who did not convert to 'Islam' until years later after the Night-Journey, and the same applies to many 'companions' in Yathreb to whom narratives of the alleged ascension to heaven are ascribed, especially Brida and Anas Ibn Malik. Besides, Abdullah Ibn Abbas, one of the alleged narrators, converted to 'Islam' when he was a 10-year-old in Mecca when Muhammad entered it for the last time, few months before his death.

3- These laughter-inducing narratives/hadiths are nothing indeed when compared to laughter-inducing narratives/hadiths about the alleged 'holy' rock in Jerusalem that make one burst out laughing and to shed tears of sorrow at the same time! If one is truly a monotheistic, Quranist believer, one would laugh and weep because of sheer polytheism inherent in such Sunnite myths of the Muhammadans!

4- This weeping out of sorrow is because of the despicable conditions of the Muhammadans whose mythology of polytheism has made them the worst community that ever emerged for humanity, though they assume they are truly guided!

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